1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a device for tapering the ends of small diameter elements or fibres, and in particular monomode optical fibres.
2. Description of Related Art
When making connections between a monomode optical fibre and other circuit elements for input or output purposes an accurate taper has to be provided on the end of the fibre. This is done to reduce the end diameter of the fibre to a specified value so that, in a known manner, it can be heated to form a lens.
For small batches of monomode fibres this has been done by holding the fibre tip against a grinding wheel and intermittently inspecting the result. This, besides being laborious and time consuming, leads to a high reject rate.